


Petal

by beomshell



Category: GOT7
Genre: 2Jae, Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25342486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beomshell/pseuds/beomshell
Summary: Jaebeom has had his fair share of unexpected deliveries during the time he's spent helping his parents out at their local florist. Broken vases, the wrong quantity of floral foam, too much of the wrong foliage, the list goes on and on.The list doesn't mention anything about the new, very cute delivery man from the flower market, who should not have been awake as early as he was.
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum | JB
Comments: 14
Kudos: 52





	Petal

**Author's Note:**

> thank u ao3 user [radiantarrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiantarrow/pseuds/radiantarrow) for describing youngjae for me, because the worm in my brain simply refused to do it

Jaebeom had recently taken over his parents’ business for the summer, running a florist located in the middle of the town’s busiest street. He figured that the two could do with a vacation, suggesting and even offering to pay for it himself. Little did Jaebeom know that they would decide to disappear to the countryside, for more than the two weeks that were initially penciled in. It was fine, because Jaebeom didn’t have anything else to do, and it sure beat waking up at 4PM each afternoon like the gremlin that he was. He missed it, but it was a nice change of pace and scenery, one he desperately needed. 

Just like his mother, Jaebeom also loved dealing with flowers, and had a talent for arranging them since he was a child. On the other hand, running a business alone wasn’t his forte, but he somehow manages to get by.

For the past week, Bambam had been missing from the shop. He was a long-time family friend, a part-time worker, and a good one at that. But he had chosen to study a few units during summer school, which meant that he needed some time away from work to focus on his upcoming finals. Jaebeom shudders whenever university is mentioned, having dropped out after studying an accounting degree for almost two years. Working at the shop was extremely difficult without a helping hand, but Jaebeom was hesitant to hire anyone else without at least his mother’s approval. Luckily, the worst of the holidays were over, and the number of online orders were more on the drier side lately. With no one to help man the shop before opening hours, Jaebeom had to resort to other methods of getting his flowers each day.

This meant getting them delivered right to the store, instead of hunting for flowers at the markets himself. There were definitely pros and cons that go with it, since he no longer had to wake up at the more ungodly hours of the night, but it does mean that the flowers that do get delivered to him aren’t always the prettiest of the bunch. For the most part, Jaebeom knows how to work with the ones that could do with some extra love, using them for the displays for the store itself instead of putting them up for sale. Another part-timer, preferably one who didn’t have exams at the same time as Bambam would come in handy though, just in case his parents _do_ decide to go on more holidays in the future. He was glad they were enjoying their time relaxing though, because they most definitely deserved it. 

Jaebeom had managed to establish a comfortable rhythm after almost a week without Bambam, so he figures another two or so won’t kill him. He hears a van pull up outside the store, and after recognising the number plate, he slides off his seat behind the counter to greet the delivery man he had recently befriended. 

Except… Well, the guy that hopped out of the van was someone else altogether. This one was adorable, with round cheeks and oddly enough a sharp jawline, which was a contrast that worked extremely well for him. Jaebeom suddenly felt very nervous, because he looked ever so slightly familiar to him. He couldn’t put a finger on why, though. 

“Hello,” Jaebeom blurts out.

“Hi! My brother and sister-in-law had a baby over the weekend. So I’ll be filling in for him.”

_Oh. Well there’s that._

“So you’re Woojeong’s brother? I didn’t know he had one.”

“That’s me. Name’s Youngjae,” the driver beams, extending his arm out. Thankful for the chill of the early hours of the morning, Jaebeom didn’t have to worry about his hands being sweaty (yet) as he carefully shook Youngjae’s hand. He had a very, very strong grip.

“And you just so happen to know how to drive a van?” Jaebeom asks out of curiosity. Youngjae looked quite young, barely old enough to hold a license. 

“Family vehicle. We have two,” he answers, as he begins to unload the back of the van, pausing for a moment to yawn and rub his eyes using both of his fists. He couldn’t help but notice that he was being watched, quickly turning around to face a very perplexed-looking Jaebeom. 

“Sorry,” Youngjae mumbles. In all fairness, it was almost 6AM. The sun hasn’t even bothered to come out yet. Jaebeom couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him, mostly because he could tell Youngjae wasn’t used to being up so early in the morning.

“Don’t be, let me help you,” he insists. “The palettes are quite heavy.”

“It’s fine, I’m strong enough,” Youngjae answers, hastily rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal a heavily tattooed arm and a flexed bicep to go with it. Jaebeom almost chokes on the spot — and yes, he’s convinced that he was. “You go do your florist stuff.” 

“I— I didn’t mean to assume,” Jaebeom stutters. “Sorry.” 

Jesus, okay.

Youngjae doesn’t answer, but Jaebeom doesn’t miss the wide, satisfied grin plastered all over his face before he bites his lip. Jaebeom rushes off to prop the door open with a bucket of water.

Normally, he would spend his time cutting and processing flowers, organising orders that came in overnight, and prioritising which arrangements to work on first before he opens the store at 9AM. And he’d do all of that without paying much attention to Woojeong, other than to let him know where to place each palette. But Jaebeom lets Youngjae place things wherever he wants to, because he could always rearrange them later in the day. He wonders if offering Youngjae a drink once he’s done would offend him any further. He’s careful to watch him as closely as possible without being caught (or so he thinks), effectively neglecting all his ‘florist stuff’ he needed to do before opening up. Jaebeom ignored his heart thumping and bouncing around in his ribcage, mesmerised by how effortlessly Youngjae lifted and neatly placed each and every palette within the store. Did Youngjae work out on the side? There was no way he didn’t. 

“All done,” Youngjae announces, with his hands resting on his hips. “And in half the time Hyung takes to do it,” he adds proudly.

Jaebeom quickly glances over at the clock in the corner of the store, and Youngjae was right. It was only a quarter past six, and even though he was probably rushing to prove that he wasn’t the weakling that Jaebeom had unintentionally implied he was, Jaebeom was thoroughly impressed. Youngjae looked like he barely lifted a finger, compared to his brother — who had to lean against something for a little while after he had finished all that heavy work. It must be nice, being full of youth and energy, Jaebeom thinks to himself. Just how old was Youngjae, exactly?

“Pick some flowers,” Jaebeom offers, with a warm smile, “For your efforts.”

“Really? But I’m getting paid for this, you know?”

Youngjae stares at the palettes of flowers all laid out on the benches, and back at Jaebeom who nods back at him. He chooses one from each, and when Jaebeom insists on him picking more, he leans towards all the yellow flowers from the selection. Youngjae mentions yellow being his favourite colour, and Jaebeom found it extremely adorable. He tells him that he doesn’t have a favourite colour, and if he _had_ to pick one it’d be grey. 

“Is grey a colour?” Youngjae asks. Jaebeom shrugs in response. “No clue,” he admits. “But aren’t you supposed to know? As a florist and all.” 

“My parents are the florists, I’m just here until they decide to come back home,” he explains. Youngjae raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t probe any further. Jaebeom realises too late how vague he sounded. Youngjae probably had a million more questions he wanted to ask after that.

Jaebeom clears his throat, embarrassed. “I’ll wrap these up for you,” he says, imagining his father scolding him if he had ever found out he was giving a bouquet of flowers away for free. Or his mother (and Bambam standing right behind her) with a knowing look on both of their faces. Because they knew better, and Jaebeom was an open book. So he might as well keep the ball rolling, while no one else was watching. 

“Oh, Youngjae, give this to your brother too,” he continues, scanning a nearby windowsill for the neatest arrangement he could find and quickly grabbing it. “I almost forgot to ask you to congratulate him for me.”

_Because he was distracted with other thoughts._

“Ah, I’ll write him a note to go with it. Hang on.”

“Hanging on,” Youngjae murmurs, not hiding his amusement at somehow being offered flowers before his own brother. Jaebeom blushes furiously as he concentrates on scribbling a few sentences on the card he picked out. His mother would definitely scold him for his atrocious handwriting, which was another reason why he desperately needed Bambam back at the store, so he folds the card in half to conceal it. Tucking it neatly between the carnations in the box, he also decides at the last minute to replace the pink bow around it with a yellow one, so as to not _assume_. 

“Here,” he says, almost shoving it into Youngjae’s arms.

“Thanks, Jaebeom,” Youngjae smiles. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate this.”

Jaebeom gives Youngjae a nod, and a smile to match. “I hope so.”

“You’re really sweet, you know?”

“T-thank you. Congrats on your nephew or niece.”

“Niece!” he answers proudly. “She looks like a potato at the moment.” Jaebeom chuckles the comparison. 

Youngjae observes the man before him, dressed in a green gingham button-up with a black apron, adorned with two cats embroidered on the front pocket. Jaebeom shifts around on his feet as Youngjae scans him up and down, and decides on picking up the bucket half-filled with water which was holding the store open, holding it tightly to his chest.

“I like your cat apron,” Youngjae says, fiddling with some of the petals from his bundle of flowers. Jaebeom smiles, because he likes it too, and Bambam bought it for him as a Christmas present. He looks down at it, and is also faced with a very unflattering angle of his chin in the reflection in the water. 

Youngjae idly snaps a daisy stem from his own bouquet — much to Jaebeom’s horror and confusion, and takes a step forward in his direction. Jaebeom naturally steps back, accidentally sloshing a bit of water onto himself as Youngjae approaches him. He tucks the flower behind his ear, grinning at a very flustered Jaebeom. 

What on earth was happening right now? And how has it only been fifteen minutes since Youngjae had finished unloading his van? 

“I like your tattoos,” Jaebeom admits shyly, returning Youngjae’s compliment with another. 

_Your tattoos... and your arms. Big arms. Big, bicep arms_ — 

Jaebeom wants more than ever to turn around and hide his face, but he stops himself from doing so, knowing that he’d have to do it slowly to avoid spilling anything else. And that would be even more suspicious. 

“Want another look?” Youngjae asks, with a dangerous smirk on his face. “I have more, I even have one on my—”

“Y-your hands are full,” Jaebeom stutters.

“You’re right,” he teases. “Next time, then.”

God, it hadn’t occurred to Jaebeom that there would be more of these encounters in the future. He was absolutely terrified of what to expect next.

Youngjae thanks him again, before realising in shock that he had left the back of the van open, the entire time after he had finished delivering all of Jaebeom’s flowers. Jaebeom waves goodbye to him from the window as Youngjae waves back, sighing in relief once the vehicle eventually drives off. The empty parking spot gets filled in almost immediately, because by now there’d be people on their way to work and such. _Lucky them_ , he thinks, for the immaculate timing they must’ve had to park their car so fast. 

Jaebeom was rarely ever in the right place at the right time, but maybe today was his lucky day too. Much to the delight of his customers, he spends the rest of it with the daisy still tucked behind his ear. 

🍏

**Author's Note:**

> youngjae doesn't mention anything about the smell of flowers giving him a headache in the fic but just know that they do and he is very good at hiding it
> 
> [find me on twitter!](https://mobile.twitter.com/bbomdi?s=09) follow requests are okay <3
> 
> also please listen to [petal by victon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhDIyiqEpXY) i absolutely adore this song!!


End file.
